


The Magpie

by imkerfuffled



Series: Lucia Castillo, Helper of Superheroes [9]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 09:01:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14997416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imkerfuffled/pseuds/imkerfuffled
Summary: It is the year 20XX. The old guard has either died or retired from the business; a new generation of heroes has taken their place. And little Lucia is all grown up now, a fact AIM is about to discover the hard way.





	The Magpie

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently working on a post-Infinity War fic for Lucia and Co, but this little thing came to me in one sitting, so here you go!

“…Couldn’t figure out how to get those boots off her…”

“Some kind of locking mechanism…”

“Damn SHIELD tech…”

“…And the gloves?”

“Same thing.”

The first things that filtered through the fog of unconsciousness were the voices. Three men. Off to her right. Arguing about her weapons. She would smile if it wouldn’t blow her element of surprise.

“ _Welcome back to the land of the living,”_ a familiar voice whispered through her earpiece implant, “ _Time: 0300. Weather: partly cloudy with a high of 67. Would you like me to tell you what you missed on the news?”_

This time, the corner of her mouth did twitch as Julie went through her usual morning wake-up routine.

(Julie: partner-turned-artificial intelligence. Dr. Armin Zola managed to do it with a bunker full of Cold War tech. Shuri did it by scattering Julie’s consciousness across the entire internet.)

 _Sure,_ thought Magpie.

(Magpie: superhero formerly known as Blackhawk. New Avenger. Lucia Castillo. Current prisoner of AIM.)

“ _Following your capture, you have been brought to the secondary location of AIM’s secret base, which turns out to be the basement of a warehouse in upstate New York owned by three levels of shell corporations. Meanwhile, I have hacked into their Wi-Fi and am sending all their secure files to Director Johnson.”_ Julie sounded pleased with herself.

 _Excellent,_ thought Lucia.

Her hands were bound behind her back, her feet were tied together, and her body was tied up in a cold, metal chair. She was exactly where she wanted to be.

The sound of footsteps alerted her that the AIM goons were on the move, and the strange rubbery squeaking noise told her they were in their yellow hazmat suits. Lucia had yet to figure out what the purpose of wearing those all the time was, but, just in case, she’d brought along a dose of Dr. Banner’s serum for radiation poisoning hidden in a thigh pouch.

As the footsteps grew nearer, her body tensed, readying for combat, and the moment they grew near enough to touch, her eyes flew open. They didn’t have time to shout before she kicked her legs out. The thick metal of her boots collided with the faceplate of the first goon, shattering the plastic instantly. He stumbled backward, clutching at his eyes. Blood began to seep through the spaces between his fingers. Lucia swung herself around on one chair leg, sweeping the feet out from under the next goon. She clenched a fist to activate the wrist-mounted dagger on her gauntlet. It shot out: a long, flat blade that extended out over her fist.

(Wrist-mounted daggers: great for punching things. Also great for sawing through ropes.)

She broke her hands free just as the third goon took a swing at her. Her arms flew up in front of her face, and the punch landed squarely on the thick, rounded diamonds of her gauntlets’ shields. The blow threw her backwards over the rear legs of the chair. She went crashing to the floor, only to kick up again. The boots found purchase in the man’s stomach. She activated them.

(Grav-boots: modified Stark tech. Outdated, but still useful.)

Twin repulsor jets shot from the soles of her boots. The AIM goon was blasted into the wall with a resounding _CRACK,_ and Lucia’s chair skidded backwards, screeching against the concrete floor. She quickly sawed through the ropes binding her to the chair and rolled off it onto her side, reaching down to cut her legs free.

In the corner of her vision, she saw the second goon get to his feet and lunge at her. She twisted out of the way just in time and lashed out with a wrist dagger. He threw himself back, and it only sliced through his hazmat suit. She scrambled to her knees, releasing her fist to sheath the dagger, and slammed the palm of her hand into the cut. She dug her wrist in until his bare skin found purchase with the trigger mechanism for her Widow’s Bite. His body writhed with electricity.

(Widow's Bite: it's a classic for a reason.)

She made a fist again and sliced through the last of the ropes. Breathing heavily, she let her gaze scan over the room, searching her temporary prison for…

There. On a table in the corner lay two of the three things she was looking for: her bow and quiver. She grinned.

(Recurve bow: stick and string from the Paleolithic Era. She looked it up.)

(Hers is made of carbon fiber and steel.)

_Jules, remind me to get the SHIELD techs to figure out how to attach those to me so nobody can get their stupid rubber hands on them again?_

_“I’ll let them know,”_ Julie replied.

 _Now,_ Lucia continued as she stepped over the AIM goon’s unconscious form and picked up her signature weapon, _have you located where they’re holding him?_

_“Hello? Who do you take me for?”_

Lucia chuckled. Before she could reply, a heavy blow landed on the back of her head. She fell sprawled across the table, her head reeling. Staggering, she spun out of the way of another hit and came face-to-face with her attacker.

It was the first man. Blood still caked his face, and he swung blindly at her with the metal chair.

She activated her boots again. They shot her straight into the air, the noise disorienting the man for a moment. She reached behind her and pulled an arrow out of her quiver, nocked it, and, from up near the ceiling, fired at him. It yanked him to the floor faster than he could figure out where she was, pinning him by the rubber of his suit.

 _“He’s sounded the alarm,”_ Julie warned her, _“Ten more are on their way.”_

 _Good. Now point me to him,_ Lucia said with a fierce smile, _Nobody kidnaps my brother and gets away with it!_

**Author's Note:**

> This was basically just a fun little what-if scenario where I could explore Lucia's future. As she grows, so too does her weaponry, incorporating bits of classic heroes' uniforms into her own until she's not just Blackhawk anymore; she's the Magpie. Julie, after a year of pestering in college, follows Lucia into SHIELD and works there as a speech writer (when they need one) and a uniform/weapons designer (when they don't). Most of Lu's uniform is designed by Julie, but during an Avengers mission Julie is seriously injured and close to death. To save her life, Lu's close friend and part-time Avenger (she does have a country to run, after all), Shuri, uploads her consciousness onto the internet like one would an LMD. Adrian, meanwhile, retires from his baseball career to become a sports commentator, and he's married to comic book editor Jackie Jones.


End file.
